| Go For Wand | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Deputy Minister |
| Grandsire | Vice Regent |
| Dam | Obeah |
| Damsire | Cyane |
| Sex | Filly |
| Foaled | 1987 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Christiana Stables |
| Owner | Christiana Stable |
| Trainer | William Badgett, Jr. |
| Record | 13: 10-2-0 |
| Earnings | $1,373,338 |
| Major wins | |
| Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1989) Ashland Stakes (1990) Alabama Stakes (1990) Beldame Stakes (1990) Mother Goose Stakes (1990) Test Stakes (1990) Maskette Stakes (1990) |
|
| Awards | |
| American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly (1989) American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly (1990) |
|
| Honours | |
| United States Racing Hall of Fame (1996) #72 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga Race Course Go for Wand Stakes at Delaware Park Racetrack |
|
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on September 2, 2007 | |
Go For Wand (April 6, 1987 - October 27, 1990) was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse.
Sired by Canadian Hall of Famer Deputy Minister, out of Obeah (winner of, among other races, the Blue Hen Stakes, and the Delaware Handicap twice). Go For Wand was foaled and raised at Jane du Pont Lunger's Christiana Stables. As a two-year-old, she had a record of three-for-four before winning the 1989 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Her performances earned her the 1989 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly.
As a three-year-old, she was seven-for-nine and was voted the 1990 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In a highly anticipated match against the Argentinian mare Bayakoa in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff, Go For Wand was leading by a head at the sixteenth pole when she suffered an open fracture to her right cannon bone. She fell to the track and threw jockey Randy Romero to the ground before rising to limp on three legs across the finish line and into the winner's circle. Track personnel got her to lie down, and she was immediately euthanized on the track. The next day, she was buried in the infield at Saratoga.
The tragedy unfolded on NBC on live television, and painfully reminded viewers of Ruffian, another promising filly who was fatally injured on the track. In a strange coincidence, several veterinarians estimate that she actually broke her leg about twelve strides before she fell. This would have meant that "Wanda" suffered her catastrophic injury while passing the flagpole that Ruffian was buried next to.
In 1992, the Maskette Stakes, a Grade 1 handicap race for fillies and mares, was renamed the "Go For Wand Handicap" in her memory.
She is listed as #72 by Blood Horse on their list of top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century and in 1996 was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
As part of the "Thoroughbred Legends" series, in 2000, author Bill Heller published a book about the filly titled "Go For Wand." - Eclipse Press (ISBN 1-58150-046-7)